Ari POV:

"Knock, knock." I heard Keigo mutter from the other side of the door.

"Hey! Come on in!" I called out, continuing to type away on my laptop.

In the next moment, my door slowly opened, revealing a handsome looking bird man.

He shot me a small, empty smile, before his gaze immediately went to the laptop I was typing on...almost looking at it with a distant hate.

I waited for him to speak, but he didn't say anything.

Barely giving him a glance, I returned my attention back to my laptop, trying to write down all of my thoughts before I lost them.

"Hey." I greeted Keigo dismissively, clacking away on my keyboard.

He continued remaining silent, slowly walking over to me.

This is new. He's never this quiet.

In the next instant, I felt the familiar scent of peppermint, and sweet coffee cloud my nostrils, as Keigo's arms wrapped around me from behind.

"Hey baby..." He uttered quietly, hovering his face towards my neck.

I felt my heart flutter at his words, forcing myself to continue working on my league of villains project. I refused to work on it, during office hours. So, I decided to get to the Hawks Agency two hours early, before work started, so I could make some progress.

However, my work day technically started in twenty minutes. So, I needed to hurry this up.

"How are you, Keigs?" I muttered distractedly, keeping my gaze on the screen. I was honestly just trying to get him to talk. He's not normally so quiet.

Instead of responding, I felt Keigo bury his face deeper into the crook of my neck, starting to leave warm, wet kisses on it.

I didn't have the time for that right now.

I lightly shrugged my shoulders, letting him know I wasn't in the mood.

Keigo groaned softly at my lack of attention, starting to lightly pull me away from the desk.

"Huh-Keigooo. Seriously? Work starts in twenty minutes and I'm trying to get this done." I mumbled absentmindedly, prying his arms off me to get back to my work.

Keigo was persuasive though, as I watched his wings wrap around my figure, feeling his hands snake back around my waist.

He hummed softly in reply, placing a kiss on my cheek, before moving his lips towards my ear.

I felt a shiver run through my body from his hot breath, losing my focus just a tad.

"But, I wanted to thank you for my note, and my sandwich, chicky." He pouted into my ear, before moving his lips back to my neck.

I laughed softly at his tone, giving into his kisses slightly, as I continued typing.

I can multi task, right?

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. You're welcome, bird boy. It's your favorite kind." I smiled, feeling my breath hitch when his teeth lightly grazed my tender skin.

"Well, it's my favorite kind of sandwich....but, that doesn't mean it's my favorite thing to taste." He whispered huskily, moving one of his hands towards my inner thighs.

Well, okay then.

"Keigo Takami, watch your mouth." I smirked, involuntarily leaning my head back against his shoulder to give him better access with his kisses.

Keigo smiled against my neck, knowing he'd won, as he quickly closed my laptop, pulling me as far away from it as possible.

He pushed me up against the wall, smashing his lips against mine hungrily.

I was slightly taken aback by the sudden force, but quickly recovered. His tongue immediately slipped into my mouth, the flavor of vanilla cold brew hitting my senses.

"Mm, you taste sweet." I giggled, starting to shrug off his jacket.

He smiled softly, carelessly dropping his jacket to the floor.

"So do you." He whispered lustfully, pressing his body up against mine as he kissed me deeply.

I threw my arms around his neck, letting out a soft moan from his unexpected, passionate kiss.

Keigo always kissed me deeply and affectionately. But, this kiss held even more emotion from him. It was more intense than our other kisses, and I didn't know why.

Not that I was complaining.

I ran my hands along his shoulders-only now noticing how...tense he was...?

He let out a small moan, as he gripped my hips tighter, seemingly putting all of his energy into this moment.

"Hey, easy." I laughed softly, gesturing for him to loosen his grip on me slightly. His fingers were literally digging into my sides, and it hurt a bit.

Not responding, Keigo quickly loosened his grip on me a little, never once breaking from our kiss to even breathe.

I furrowed my brows softly, noticing his constant lack of communication this morning.

Normally, when we kiss, he's always got something to say...a joke, a comment, or just asking me how I'm doing. While he's a man who likes to move too fast for his own good, whenever him and I shared intimate moments, the man seemed to move at a sloth's pace...going as slow as possible to enjoy every second of it.

Which is why I was a little confused by this sudden, serious, fast moving side of him. He seemed very tightly wound right now.

His demeanor was off. He had that aura again. The aura that was still him, just darker...distant....a little more sinister. I didn't like it.

"Fuck, Ari. I want you right now. You want to, baby?" He groaned out lowly, harshly gripping my backside as he began grinding his hips against me roughly.

He wasn't himself. He wasn't my Keigo.

It's almost like he just wanted a hookup right now, to work out some type of frustration he's dealing with. Sure, he's got his hands all over my body. But, he's barely paying attention to me.

Something's on his mind. Something's wrong.

I pulled away from the kiss, firmly gripping his roaming hands in mine.

"No. I don't want this, Keigo." I stated firmly, looking directly into his eyes.

Keigo immediately snapped his half lidded eyes all the way open at my words, with dark, honey pools of lust clouding those sweet, gentle orbs.

He quickly removed his hands from my body, backing up slightly to give me space.

I crossed my arms, watching him dazedly run a hand through his hair, before he turned his attention to me.

"I'm sorry." He whispered softly, averting his gaze to the floor in guilt. Clearly, he already knew why I said no to him.

I shook my head, walking back over to him.

"It's okay." I coaxed softly, taking his hand in mine.

Keigo continued looking at the floor, clearly refusing to meet my gaze. I could tell he felt bad.

I let out a small chuckle, wrapping my arms around his waist.

I nuzzled my head into his chest, waiting for him to return my hug. While he had his hands all over me just a second ago, now he was clearly afraid to even touch me.

"Hug me back, you fucking overgrown pigeon." I mumbled into his shirt, hearing him let out a small laugh.

It was small, but still genuine.

He wrapped his arms around me, giving me a light squeeze.

"Ah, I mean it. I'm really sorry, chicky." He mumbled again, his tone coming out more like the Keigo I know. It made me happy.

"Keigo, stop apologizing. I know you would never take advantage of me." I reassured, only now noticing a faint bitter smell coming from his shirt.

It smelled....charred, burned? Why?

"More importantly....why do you smell like Korean barbecue? Did the butcher down the street finally decide to cook you up?" I laughed, looking up at him.

He smiled down at me warmly, giving me a chaste peck on the lips, before releasing me from his embrace. He seems to have returned to his normal self now.

"Mhm! He offered me twenty yen for one of my wings. I'd be lying if I said I didn't at least consider it." He smirked, before sauntering out of my office to head back to the kitchen.

I trailed behind him, leaning against the doorway of my office, as he began eating his breakfast.

Getting a better look at him now, I noticed he appeared completely exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, with thick dark circles under them, his hair was an absolute disaster. He was pale and sunken, as he downed another coffee.

I slowly walked over to him, noticing a smudge of something on his cheek. Something black and dusty.

Narrowing my eyes, I began wiping the smudge from his cheek, instantly grabbing his attention.

He continued chewing, curiously watching me touch his face.

"Is that...ash...on your cheek..?" I asked in confusion, rubbing the grime between my fingers.

Keigo swallowed his food too quickly, coughing slightly from the effects.

"Hm?-What? Ash? No! No, no. C'mon, chicky! Who do ya think I am, Santa Claus, comin' down a chimney? Nah." He chuckled dismissively, quickly wiping his cheek to gather any remaining grime from his face.

I pursed my lips in thought, only now noticing the way his clothes also looked slightly dusted with this black stuff. What the hell was he doing?

"What is it then? It's all over you, and you smell like smoke. What, did you walk through a fire?" I mumbled jokingly, starting to lightly pat his clothes clean.

Keigo hesitantly cleared his throat, quickly walking away from me to look in the fridge.

"Hm, not sure. I'll admit, I didn't actually wash this outfit, before I put it on this morning. Could have been from my last mission. Why, does that gross you out, chicky?" He laughed lightly, grabbing a third can of coffee from the fridge.

I rolled my eyes, snatching the can out of his hands.

He turned around, looking at me in question.

"Okay. What's up with you? You've been acting weird all morning. Spill it." I countered lightly, tossing the unopened coffee on the counter.

Keigo smiled tiredly, opting to grab a glass of water instead.

"Nothing's wrong!-well, just...work stuff. Diane has me a little stressed lately. That's all." He simply stated, keeping his eyes glued to his glass.

I raised my brows expectantly, waiting for him to continue, before I realized he wouldn't.

Typical Keigo.

"Okayyy. Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, already knowing it was a hopeless question.

He shrugged, shaking his head dismissively.

"It's nothing major. It's boring stuff. I'd rather not talk about it. Anyways, tell me what's going on with you." He asked casually, twirling his empty glass around on the counter.

Does he seriously think I didn't notice he changed the subject?!

"Hm? What do you mean?" I asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

Keigo cleared his throat softly, trying to think of a response.

"I just mean....um-you were here before I came in this morning. You got here before I did. Any reason why?" He questioned innocently, quickly consuming the rest of his breakfast like he hasn't eaten in days.

My eyes immediately lit up at his question. With that weird moment from him this morning, I realized I forgot to tell him about the progress I've made on the league of villains.

"Oh, that's right!! Well, I got here a few hours early to get some work done for my league of villains task...and I think I found something pretty major!" I exclaimed, watching his brows raise in excitement.

"Oh yeah? What'd ya find? I knew you'd figure those villains out. You're the smartest person I know." Keigo stated honestly, giving me a proud smile.

I laughed sheepishly, feeling my cheeks heat up at his words.

"Me?! Nah, I wouldn't go that far. But, I think I've figured out the meeting schedule of Dabi and his members. I've been tracking his activity and found a pattern in his spots." I started out, about to explain more before Keigo quickly spoke up.

"Wow, really?! That's amazing. So, what's our next plan of action?" He grinned, looking at me in eager question.

I tilted my head in confusion, thinking I must have misunderstood.

"Uh...we?"

Keigo simply shrugged, ignoring the incoming call that was coming from his office, to signal the start of the work day.

"Yeah, we! I said I was gonna help you with this project, didn't I? Whatever you plan, I wanna be involved with it, too." He stated, giving me a thumbs up.

I looked at his appearance in questionable concern. The boy looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion any second.

"Well...I'm gonna go stakeout one of the meeting spots, and see if I can get a reading on any villain activity. As for you....why don't you just go home and rest. Unless, you'd rather tell me why you're so tired." I said, starting to become a little worried about him.

He simply waved a dismissive hand at me, before walking towards his office.

"I'll be fine! The stakeout's not till tomorrow night, anyways. I can sleep tonight, and be ready to go by tomorrow-"

What...?

"How did you know that?" I asked in blank confusion.

Keigo turned around, looking at me curiously.

"Hm? Know what?" He said, clearly having no idea what I was talking about that.

"How did you know the stakeout was happening tomorrow night?" I asked plainly, narrowing my eyes in question.

Keigo didn't even falter with a response, looking at me like I was joking.

"Hah, you just told me, chicky. Forget already?" He chuckled in amusement, leaning against his doorway.

My face contorted into visibly confusion now, as I tried to remember the conversation Keigo and I just had.

"What?! I did?! I don't remember telling you that-"

"Well, then how else would I know?" He smiled, looking directly into my eyes.

I was quiet, obviously not having an answer to that question.

Why was I even questioning him about this? It wouldn't make sense for him to lie about something like that. This is Keigo we're talking about.

I trust him.

It's been a weird morning. I'm sure I did tell Keigo, and I just didn't remember.

I let out a small laugh, feeling slightly guilty for even thinking something like that.

"Hah, yeah. I guess you wouldn't."